Petuniaxc3x97hybrida cultivar Conblue.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Petunia plant, botanically known as Petuniaxc3x97hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Conblue.
The new Petunia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Shiga Prefecture, Japan. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Petunias with numerous small flowers with attractive flower colors.
The new Petunia originated from a cross made by the Inventor on Dec. 25, 1998 of the Petunia cultivar Fantasy Ivory, not patented, as the female, or seed parent, with an unidentified selection of Petunia, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The new Petunia was selected as a single plant from the resulting progeny by the Inventor on Sep. 25, 1999, in Shiga Prefecture, Japan, on the basis of its small and numerous light purple-colored flowers with dark purple-colored venation.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal vegetative cuttings taken in Gensingen, Germany has shown that the unique features of this new Petunia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
Plants of the cultivar Conblue have not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, light intensity and daylength without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Conbluexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Conbluexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Outwardly spreading and uniform plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit.
3. Small rounded leaves.
4. Numerous small single flowers that are light purple in color with dark purple-colored venation.
5. Good garden performance.
Plants of the new Petunia differ from plants of the female parent, the cultivar Fantasy Ivory, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Petunia are more outwardly spreading and not as upright as plants of the female parent.
2. Plants of the new Petunia are more vigorous than plants of the female parent.
3. Plants of the new Petunia have better garden performance than plants of the female parent.
Plants of the new Petunia differ from plants of the male parent, the unidentified Petunia selection, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Petunia are more vigorous than plants of the male parent.
2. Plants of the new Petunia have larger flowers than plants of the male parent.
3. Plants of the new Petunia flower for a longer period of time than plants of the male parent.
Plants of the new Petunia differ primarily from plants of the cultivar Conbloss, U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 09/996,378 filed concurrently in flower color.
Plants of the new Petunia can be compared to plants of the cultivar Sunsolos, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Gensingen, Germany, plants of the new Petunia differed from plants of the cultivar Sunsolos in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Petunia had a denser and less open plant habit than plants of the cultivar Sunsolos.
2. Plants of the new Petunia had smaller leaves than plants of the cultivar Sunsolos.
3. Plants of the new Petunia had smaller flowers than plants of the cultivar Sunsolos.